In the rear hall of the Spiritual Origin Hall.

Grand Elder Yao Dehai of the Lingyuan Sect was speaking with the other elders. "There are two lists here. Everyone, take a look."

"The top one is a list of capable individuals, all renowned experts from Li State."

"The bottom one is a roster of people for whom special arrangements have been requested. Later, assign them all to the strongholds in the rear. Don’t take them to the front lines."

Gu Qiu Ling, an Elder of the Demon-slaying Hall, frowned. "If these people are so afraid of dying, why did they even come to Hezhou?"

"And at a time like this, they’re still playing these kinds of games."

"Do they think fighting the Divine Fire Sect is child’s play?"

Yao Dehai, on the other hand, calmly tried to persuade her. "Junior Sister Gu, these are all requests from acquaintances. Try to be understanding."

"Later, try to arrange for them to be in more remote locations. At the very least, they can watch over some Spirit Ore mines. It’s better than nothing."

"Alright, everyone, get ready. We’ll go out one by one to pick our people."

The main hall was already filled with Cultivators from Li State. Each person stepped forward to re-register their name and received two brand-new Cloud Crystal Talismans.

The Cloud Crystal Talisman was a special type of Talisman used to counter the Soul-Chasing Shuttle.

The Lingyuan Sect also announced that the method for Talisman Making was posted on the wall. If anyone couldn’t wait for the next distribution, they could make their own.

Xiao Chen turned his head for a look. Although he didn’t know Talisman Making, it didn’t stop him from memorizing the formula first.

Then, Cultivators from the Lingyuan Sect came out. Under Yao Dehai’s direction, they began taking groups of Cultivators away in order, from front to back.

Liu Feng was assigned to Seeking Plum Mountain, and Zhu Hui went to Luoyan Mountain.

Both of them were very happy. This was exactly what they had come for.

Elder Feng was also assigned to Luoyan Mountain, but a bitter smile touched his lips.

He was already old and didn’t want to be sent to the front lines right away.

Ironically, the Loose Cultivator who had shouted about just wanting to get a Foundation Establishment Pill was actually assigned to a relatively critical Spirit Medicine Garden in the rear.

The expression on his face wasn’t very pleasant either, but he didn’t voice any objection, instead preparing to wait for the rotation.

Soon, it was the last row’s turn.

The late-arriving Gu Qiu Ling glanced at the roster in her hand and immediately frowned again.

She saw Chen Zhi’an and Xiao Chen—the two names she had been previously instructed not to take to the front lines.

And Wangyan Mountain, which she was in charge of, happened to be a relatively dangerous area.

"Wangyan Mountain is still short on manpower. Fellow Daoists on the left, please come with me."

Gu Qiu Ling chose the left side, then pointed at Xiao Chen. "The one on the far left, you don’t have to go. Qingyang Spirit Ore is short one person. You can go there and guard the Spirit Ore mine."

In her heart, she most despised cultivators like this who relied on family connections to come here and burnish their reputations.

Therefore, she didn’t even want to say his name, referring to him as "the one on the far left."

Hearing this, Xiao Chen recalled yesterday’s Water Curtain map. The Qingyang Spirit Ore mine was six hundred li from Luoyan Mountain, making it a stronghold with some value but not a critical one.

’Isn’t this a bit too remote?’

He actually wanted to go to Wangyan Mountain to quickly accumulate battle merits and become a Demon-slaying Guard as soon as possible.

So, he tentatively asked, "Can someone else go instead?"

Gu Qiu Ling shot him a cold glare.

She thought Xiao Chen wanted to go even further to the rear and was filled with contempt. ’The Qingyang Spirit Ore mine is already a mission with little danger, yet he still doesn’t dare to go. What a coward.’

Her tone was quite impatient. "If you’re not satisfied, you can wait for the rotation. If everyone wanted to switch assignments like you, wouldn’t it be chaos?"

With that, she turned and strode out of the Spiritual Origin Hall.

Xiao Chen frowned slightly at her words. The woman seemed to hold a baffling hostility toward him.

Since he didn’t know that Elder Chen had put in a good word for him, he didn’t quite understand what was going on.

’Forget it. Who cares what she thinks. It’s their loss that Wangyan Mountain won’t have me.’

Xiao Chen had already thought it through on the Flying Boat. This was going to be a protracted war of attrition over resources, so he didn’t need to be in a hurry.

’Guarding a Spirit Ore mine it is, then. There’ll be rotations later anyway.’

’Besides, this isn’t bad either. I’m a newcomer here; it’s a good idea to go to a stronghold first and get familiar with the environment in Hezhou.’

’Once I become a Demon-slaying Guard, there will be plenty of opportunities to earn points.’

「Qingyang County.」

The clan leader of the Chang Family, the largest local Foundation Establishment family, Chang Shunping, had prepared a banquet at his home in advance.

Then, he went sixty li out of the city to wait on Qingyang Peak ahead of time.

He had long since heard that Foundation Establishment Cultivators from Li State would be arriving at the Lingyuan Sect today.

Thus, he wanted to host a banquet for this new neighbor, so that they could watch out for each other if any stray Demon Cultivators appeared later on.

Xiao Chen had just arrived at Qingyang Peak when the other man enthusiastically came up to greet him, introduced himself, and offered to hold a welcoming reception for him.

He politely declined the invitation. "Chang, I must go take over the Spirit Ore mine first. Next time, for sure."

’Since I’ve already accepted the mission, I should be a little more responsible.’

The Qingyang Spirit Ore mine was just behind Qingyang Peak. It was rich in a Spiritual Material called Qingyang Stone, which was an excellent material for Artifact Refining.

Because of this, the nearby small river was also named the Qingyang River.

The Spirit Ore mine perennially housed nearly a hundred Qi Refining Cultivators. Among them, eleven were in the late stage of Qi Refining, while the rest were mostly in the Middle Stage.

Today, in a rare break, work had not started. Instead, everyone was gathered in the center of the mining area, waiting for the new supervisor to arrive.

However, Xiao Chen didn’t ask much about the specific, mundane affairs of mining, only instructing them to continue mining as they had been.

His main focus was still on how to fight against the Demon Cultivators.

"Can this still be used?"

Xiao Chen looked at the Array Plate in front of him, its patterns severely worn down, and suspected the thing was already useless.